FUTURISTIC living in Gloucester city centre will become a reality when the new Greyfriars Quarter opens in June.

Almost 300 new homes will be created on the former Gloscat college site and the media site, off Brunswick Road.

The first 90 will be unveiled as early as June as developers Linden Homes press ahead with work on site.

Last week bosses from the developer unveiled their vision for the future city centre living.

Gloucester currently has a low population density in the city centre.

Clive Wiltshire, regional director of Linden Homes, said: “You can’t come here without being touched by the history, but this is about looking forward.

“We hope that Greyfriars Quarter will inject a new vitality into the city centre. There will be 300 new homes for the people of Gloucester.

“In the 1950s and 60s people moved out of cities and they were left pretty dead. Then we realised that cities come alive when people are living in them.”

The developments features a collection of one and two bedroom apartments and two, three and four bedroom town houses.

First-time buyers will be buoyed by a sale price of £105,000 for a one bedroom flat.

Sales executive Neil Burton said: “We are looking at a June or July date for the first set of properties, with more becoming ready in August or September and again in December. Phase two, which is the Gloscat site, has already started and it will be ready in 18 months time.

“It is fantastic. Living in Gloucester myself for over 40 years, I can say it is very much needed.

“They will really sell. We have had a lot of interest and I expect all of phase one to be gone by December. They are exceptional quality.”

It is also planned that it will eventually feature a collection of shops and a medical centre.

Barry Leach, chairman of the Gloucester City Centre Community Partnership, agreed that the development was crucial for revitalising that part of the city centre. He said: “It seems to be a long time coming but I am glad it is finally on its way. It is filling a serious hole in the heart of the city.

“Residents will use the local shops and cafes and it will have an economic benefit for Gloucester. It will be good to get more people living in the city centre.”

13 comments

"what about the park and pond they originally promised? oh wait, they threw their toys out the pram until the council bent over and allowed them to build more houses on the land and slash the number of affordable homes in half. I'm sure it is the community they care about and not simply squeezing out as much profit as possible. a balance would of been nice." – Every company thinks about its own profit while constructing or doing something else. Anyway, to my mind this building we be a good chance for people. The main thing is to make it affordable! They can save the park.

Jas, I never saw anything about the £10 million either till they applied to halve the number of affordable houses. It must have been somewhere in the hundreds of pages of documentation.
Linden Homes admitted that their employees had cut down the two trees, and the county council accepted that it was a 'genuine mistake'. Yeah, right.

I would normally agree that the loss of trees has a negative effect but I must admit in this instance the removal of the trees improved the overall vista. The Library and Museum buildings are impressive but were always partially hidden by the trees. I hope the new ones that have been planted will not grow to the same scale. Did they ever find out who cut them down?

@ JAS37 oh ok fair enough I didn't know that, but then with have the number of properties I expect the original plans for a park and pond will now be twice the size with all the extra space?. unfortunately I live in the city centre, and the developers sneakily cut down all the trees on the land, and then cut down the trees on the public streets that stood outside the library. so they don't seem to be aiming for 'quality' when thinking of the community.

Futuristic living? In what way will this be futuristic? Are there to be electric car charging points or something else that I don't know about?
As for Linden Homes, please remember that they are being paid £10 million of public money to carry out this redevelopment. Nice work if you can get it.

gloscityguy, your statement could not be further from the truth. The original proposal was for near 400 Homes and even then the original developer pulled out because they adjudged the site to be unviable.
Linden stepped up to the plate with a quality development for 254 homes. Perhaps it would be a good idea to check out the facts rather than repeat hearsay.